Rejuvenated extension of the Philippine Sea plate and its effect on subduction dynamics in the Nankai Trough

The Nankai Trough, Japan, is a subduction zone characterized by the recurrence of disastrous earthquakes and tsunamis. Slow earthquakes and associated tremor also occur intermittently and locally in the Nankai Trough and the causal relationship between slow earthquakes and large earthquakes is important to understanding subduction zone dynamics. The Nankai Trough off Muroto, Shikoku Island, near the southeast margin of the rupture segment of the 1946 Nankai earthquake, is one of three regions where slow earthquakes and tremor cluster in the Nankai Trough. On the Philippine Sea plate, the rifting of the central domain of the Shikoku Basin was aborted at ~15 Ma and underthrust the Nankai forearc off Muroto. Here, the Tosa-Bae seamount and other high-relief features, which are northern extension of the Kinan Seamount chain, have collided with and indented the forearc wedge. In this study, we analyzed seismic reflection profiles around the deformation front of accretionary wedge and stratigraphically correlated them to drilling sites off Muroto. Our results show that the previously aborted horst-and-graben structures, which were formed around the spreading center of the Shikoku Basin at ~15 Ma, were rejuvenated locally at ~6 Ma and more regionally at ~3.3 Ma and have remained active since. The reactivated normal faulting has enhanced seafloor roughness and appears to affect the locations of slow earthquakes and tremors. Rejuvenated normal faulting is not limited to areas near the Nankai Trough, and extends more than 200 km into the Shikoku Basin to the south. This extension might be due to extensional forces applied to the Philippine Sea plate, which appear to be driven by slab-pull in the Ryukyu and Philippine trenches along the western margin of the Philippine Sea plate.     

A new model of back-arc spreading in the Parece Vela Basin, northwest Pacific margin

Abstract Swath bathymetric data, single-channel seismic reflection profiles, magnetic and gravity anomalies in the northern part of the Parece Vela (West Mariana) Basin were obtained by comprehensive surveys conducted by the Hydrographic Department of Japan. The central zone of the Parece Vela Basin is characterized by the north-south trending chain of depressions in a right-stepping en echelon alignment. The morphology of these depressions is diamond shaped and bordered by steep escarpments of 1000-1500 m relative height. These fault escarpments extend northeastward and southwestward from the depressions into the surrounding basin floor and then gradually fade out. These escarpments have an S-shaped trend, and their geometry seems to be symmetric about the depressions. Minor ridges and troughs trending orthogonal to these escarpments are recognized. It is concluded that these depressions and escarpments are the topographic expression of extinct spreading axes and S-shaped transform faults, respectively. The age of the central depressions seems to be young, although details of tectonic processes forming them remains unsolved. The western province of the basin floor and basement is extremely rugged and characterized by minor ridges and troughs trending in a north-south direction. Although magnetic anomalies of the basin are very weak, magnetic lineations trending parallel to the topographic trend are recognizable in the central and western parts of the basin. Based on updated geomorpholog-ical features and magnetic anomalies revealed by the present survey, together with the previously published data including drilling results, it is proposed that the evolution of Parece Vela Basin took place in four stages of opening and tectonic activity: rifting, east-west spreading, northeast-southwest spreading with counter-clockwise rotation of spreading axes, and post-spreading deformation and volcanism. This proposed spreading model of the Parece Vela Basin is similar to that of the adjacent Shikoku Basin. The spreading axes of both basins were segmented and gradually rotated counter-clockwise in a later phase of the basin evolution, after the cessation of relatively uniform spreading nearly in an east-west direction.     

Possible Miocene rifting of the Izu–Ogasawara (Bonin) arc deduced from magnetic anomalies

A magnetic anomaly map of the northern part of the Philippine Sea plate shows two conspicuous north–south rows of long-wavelength anomalies over the Izu–Ogasawara (Bonin) arc, which are slightly oblique to the present volcanic front. These anomalies are enhanced on reduced-to-pole and upward-continued anomaly maps. The east row is associated with frontal arc highs (the Shinkurose Ridge), and the west row is accompanied by the Nishi-Shichito Ridge. Another belt of long-wavelength anomalies very similar to the former two occurs over the Kyushu–Palau Ridge. To explain the similarity of the magnetic anomalies, it is proposed that after the spreading of the Shikoku Basin separated the Izu–Ogasawara arc from the Kyushu–Palau Ridge, another rifting event occurred in the Miocene, which divided the Izu–Ogasawara arc into the Nishi-Shichito and Shinkurose ridges. The occurrence of Miocene rifting has also been suggested from the geology of the collision zone of the Izu–Ogasawara arc against the Southwest Japan arc: the Misaka terrain yields peculiar volcanic rocks suggesting back-arc rifting at ～ 15 Ma. The magnetic anomaly belts over the Izu–Ogasawara arc do not extend south beyond the Sofugan Tectonic Line, suggesting a difference in tectonic history between the northern and southern parts of the Izu–Ogasawara arc. It is estimated that the Miocene extension was directed northeast–southwest, utilizing normal faults originally formed during Oligocene rifting. The direction is close to the final stage of the Shikoku Basin spreading. On a gravity anomaly relief map, northeast–southwest lineaments can be recognized in the Shikoku Basin as well as over the Nishi-Shichito Ridge. We thus consider that lines of structural weakness connected transform faults of the Shikoku Basin spreading system and the transfer faults of the Miocene Izu–Ogasawara arc rifting. Volcanism on the Nishi-Shichito Ridge has continued along the lines of weakness, which could have caused the en echelon arrangement of the volcanoes.     

An integrated geodynamic model of the Nankai subduction zone and neighboring regions from geophysical inversion and modeling

I investigate large-scale deep crustal structures of the Nankai subduction zone and neighboring region using regional magnetic and gravity anomalies, heat flow measurements, and earthquake hypocenters. It is found that ages, dip angles, and geothermal states of the subducting slab have direct influences on mantle wedge serpentinization. The weakest serpentinization observed in the Nankai forearc region is associated with the youngest downgoing plate of the Shikoku Basin. Conspicuous gravity anomalies identified in the forearc region are coincidental spatially with magnetic anomalies after the reduction to the pole, a mathematical procedure that helps relocate magnetic sources and boundaries, and allows us to more easily interpret magnetic data. It is argued that these patches of magnetic and gravity anomalies are caused by the same sources of anomalous density and magnetization, and are linked directly to preexisting structures such as magnetic anomalies and their boundaries in the subducting oceanic crust. Since the gravity and magnetic anomaly patches are found to be closely related to interplate seismogenic behaviors in the Nankai subduction zone, I suggest that major magnetic boundaries in the Shikoku Basin are likely weak places for slab tears that trigger seismic segmentations along the subduction zone.     

Anomalous structural evolution of the Shimanto Accretionary Prism at Murotomisaki, Shikoku Island, Japan

Abstract The Late Oligocene-Early Miocene Nabae Sub-belt of the Shimanto Accretionary Prism was created coevally (ca 25-15 Ma) with the opening of the Shikoku back-arc basin, located to the south of the southwest Japan convergent margin. The detailed geology of the sub-belt has been controversial and the interaction of the Shimanto accretionary prism and the opening of the Shikoku Basin has been ambiguous. New structural analysis of the sub-belt has led to a new perception of its structural framework and has significant bearing on the interpretation of the Neogene tectonics of southwest Japan. The sub-belt is divided into three units: the Nabae Complex; the Shijujiyama Formation; and the Maruyama Intrusive Suite. The Nabae Complex comprises coherent units and mélange, all of which show polyphase deformation. The first phase of deformation appears to have involved landward vergent thrusting of coherent units over the mélange terrane. The second phase of deformation involved continued landward vergent shortening. The Shijujiyama Formation, composed mainly of mafic volcanics and massive sandstone, is interpreted as a slope basin deposited upon the Nabae Complex during the second phase of deformation. The youngest deformational pulse involved regional flexing and accompanying pervasive faulting. During this event, mafic rocks of the Maruyama Intrusive Suite intruded the sub-belt. Fossil evidence in the Nabae Complex and radiometric dates on the intrusive rocks indicate that this tectonic scheme was imprinted upon the sub-belt between ～23 and ～14 Ma. The timing of accretion and deformation of the sub-belt coincides with the opening of the Shikoku Basin; hence, subduction and spreading operated simultaneously. Accretion of the Nabae Sub-belt was anomalous, involving landward vergent thrusting, magmatism in newly accreted strata and regional flexing. It is proposed that this complex and anomalous structural history is largely related to the subduction of the active Shikoku Basin spreading ridge and associated seamounts.     

The eastern and western ends of Nankai Trough: results of Box 5 and Box 7 Kaiko survey

Seabeam mapping and detailed geophysical surveying have been conducted over the Nankai Trough where the fossil Shikoku Ridge is subducted below southwest Japan. The geometry of the oceanic lithosphere bending under the margin as well as the three-dimensional structure of the accretionary prism have thus been determined in detail. Three 350° trending, probably transform faults have been identified in the area of the survey. They do not extend further south and appear to be limited to the last phase of spreading within the Shikoku Basin, probably between 15 and 12 Ma; this last phase of spreading would then have been accompanied by a sharp change in spreading direction from east-west to N 350°. The two eastern transform faults limit a zone of reduced Nankai trench fill of turbidites opposite to the Tosa Bae Embayment. This observation suggests that the Tosa Bae Embayment actually results from this reduced supply of trench fill to the imbricate thrusting process. The accretionary prism can be divided into three different tectonic provinces separated by continuous mappable thrusts, the Lower and Upper Main Thrusts. Surface shortening is limited to the lower accretionary prism south of the Upper Main Thrust (UMT) whereas uplift with possible extension characterizes the prism above the UMT. Deformation, due to the relative plate motion, mostly affects the lower accretionary prism south of the UMT.     

Tectonics and sedimentation around Kashinosaki Knoll: A subducting basement high in the eastern Nankai Trough

Abstract   When seamounts and other topographic highs on an oceanic plate are subducted, they cause significant deformation of the overriding plate and may act as asperities deeper in the seismogenic zone. Kashinosaki Knoll (KK) is an isolated basement high of volcanic origin on the subducting Philippine Sea Plate that will soon be subducted at the eastern Nankai Trough. Seismic reflection imaging reveals a thick accumulation of sediments (∼1200 m) over and around the knoll. The lower portion of the sedimentary section has a package of high-amplitude, continuous reflections, interpreted as turbidites, that lap onto steep basement slopes but are parallel to the gentler basement slopes. Total sediment thickness on the western and northern slopes is approximately 40–50% more than on the summit and southeastern slopes of KK. These characteristics imply that the basal sedimentary section northwest of KK was deposited by infrequent high-energy turbidity currents, whereas the area southeast of KK was dominated by hemipelagic sedimentation over asymmetric basement relief. From the sediment structure and magnetic anomalies, we estimate that the knoll likely formed near the spreading center of the Shikoku Basin in the early Miocene. Its origin differs from that of nearby Zenisu Ridge, which is a piece of the Shikoku Basin crust uplifted along a thrust fault related to the collision of the Izu–Bonin arc and Honshu. KK has been carried into the margin of the Nankai Trough, and its high topography is deflecting Quaternary trench turbidites to the south. When KK collides with the accretionary prism in about 1 My, the associated variations in sediment type and thickness around the knoll will likely result in complex local variations in prism deformation.     

The origin of strata within the inner accretionary prism of Nankai Trough: Evidence from clay mineral assemblages along the NanTroSEIZE transect

One of the more prominent architectural elements of the Nankai subduction margin, offshore southwest Japan, is an out‐of‐sequence thrust fault (megasplay) that separates the inner accretionary prism from the outer prism. The inner prism (hanging wall of the megasplay) is dominated by mudstone, which is enigmatic when the sedimentary facies is compared to coeval deposits in the Shikoku Basin (i.e. inputs from the subducting Philippine Sea plate) and to coarser‐grained turbidite sequences from the Quaternary trench wedge. Clay mineral assemblages amplify the mismatches of sedimentary facies. Mudstones from the inner prism are uniformly depleted in smectite, with average bulk values of 23–24 wt%, whereas the Shikoku Basin deposits show progressive decreases in proportions of smectite over time, from averages of 46–48 wt% at 10 Ma to 17–21 wt% at 1 Ma. Plate‐boundary reconstructions for the Philippine Sea region provide one solution to the conundrum. Between 15 Ma and 10 Ma, the Pacific plate subducted near the NanTroSEIZE transect, and a trench‐trench‐trench triple junction migrated to the northeast. Accretion during that period involved sediments that had been deposited on the Pacific plate. Motion of the Philippine Sea plate changed from 10 Ma to 6 Ma, resulting in sinistral slip along the proto‐Nankai Trough. Sediments accreted during that period probably had been deposited near the triple junction, with a hybrid detrital provenance. Renewed subduction of the Philippine Sea plate at 6 Ma led to reorganization of watersheds near the Izu–Honshu collision zone and gradual incision of large submarine canyons on both sides of the colliding Izu arc. Accreted Pliocene mudstones share more of an affinity to the triple junction paleoenvironment than they do to Shikoku Basin. These differences between subducting Shikoku Basin strata and accreted Pacific plate sediments have important implications for interpretations of frictional properties, structural architecture, and diagenetic fluid production.     

Late amagmatic extension along the central and eastern segments of the West Philippine Basin fossil spreading axis

The spreading processes within the West Philippine Basin (WPB) remain partly unknown. This study presents an analysis of the tectono-magmatic processes that happened along its spreading axis during the conclusion of the last spreading phase at 33/30 Ma. We demonstrate that the late episode of N-S opening from an E-W-trending spreading system has been followed by a late tectonic event occurring in the central and eastern parts of the basin. This event was responsible for transtensional strain accommodated along the NW-SE faults cutting through the former E-W rift valley in the central part of the basin. In its eastern part, the same event occurred at a larger extent and led to the creation of a new NW-SE axis, obliquely cutting the older E-W spreading segments and their associated spreading fabrics. At this location, several tens of kilometers of slightly oblique amagmatic extension occurred following a ∼60° direction. We propose that this late event is associated with the onset of E-W opening of the Parece-Vela Basin located along the eastern border of the WPB at 30 Ma. Extensive stresses within this basin were probably transmitted to the hot and easily deformable rift zone of the WPB. The newly-created NW-SE axis most likely propagated from east to west, being responsible for scissors opening within the WPB. NE-SW extension ceased when well-organized spreading started at 26 Ma in Parece-Vela Basin, accommodating entirely the global extensive stress pattern.     

Tectonic history of the Shikoku marginal basin

Studies of marine magnetic anomaly data from the Shikoku basin reveal magnetic lineations which strike northwest almost parallel to the trend of the Palau-Kyushu ridge. The lineation pattern is best developed in the western part of the basin and we can confidently identify a sequence of anomalies 7 through 5E between the base of the Palau-Kyushu ridge and the center of the basin. In the eastern part of the basin the basement morphology is rough and complex and magnetic anomalies can not be identified unequivocally. We infer that the Palau-Kyushu ridge and the Izu-Bonin island arc began separating about 27 m.y. B.P. An interval of rapid separation (4.2 cm/yr) occurred between 26 and 22.5 m.y. B.P. which approximately coincides with a period of intense volcanic activity in Japan. The observed magnetic lineation pattern and basement morphology can be best explained if the Shikoku basin formed at a two-limb spreading system during the Late Oligocene to Middle Miocene. Subsequently the eastern half of the basin was disrupted by fractures as the Iwo-Jima ridge collided with the Japanese islands. The accretionary process which formed the crust of the Shikoku marginal basin appears similar to that operating at mid-ocean ridges of the world.     

南海新生代海底扩张的构造演化模式:来自高分辨率地球物理数据的新认识

根据高分辨率重、磁测网数据的分析,结合多波束海底地貌的构造解释,南海海盆新生代经历了两期不同动力特征的海底扩张,25 Ma的沉积-构造事件是其重要分界.早期扩张从约33.5 Ma开始至25 Ma停止,在东部海盆南、北两侧和西北海盆形成了具有近E-W向或NEE向磁条带的老洋壳,是近NNW-SSE向扩张的产物;晚期扩张从2...     

Propagating rift during the opening of a small oceanic basin: The Protector Basin (Scotia Arc,Antarctica)

The opening of oceanic basins constitutes one of the key features of Plate Tectonics because it determines the rifting and displacement of the continental crustal blocks. Although the mechanisms of development of large oceans are well known, the opening and evolution of small and middle size oceanic basins have not been studied in detail. The Protector Basin, located in the southern Scotia Sea, is a good example of a small oceanic basin developed between two thinned continental blocks, the Pirie Bank and the Terror Rise, poorly studied up to now. A new set of multibeam bathymetry, multichannel seismic reflection, and gravity and magnetic anomaly profiles obtained on the SCAN 2001 cruise led us to determine that the Protector Basin probably opened during the period comprised between C5Dn (17.4 Ma) and C5ACn–C5ABr chrons (13.8 Ma), forming a N–S oriented spreading axis. The end of spreading is slightly younger to the north. The start of spreading is clearly diachronous, with the most complete set of chrons up to C5Dn in the southern profile, C5Cn in the middle section and only up to C5ADn in the northern part of the basin. The spreading axis propagated northwards during the basin development, producing the wedge shape of the basin. In addition, at the NE part of the basin, a reverse fault developed in the border of the Pirie Bank after basin opening accentuates the sharp northern end. Moreover, the northwestern part of the Pirie Bank margin is an extremely stretched continental crust with N–S elongated magnetic anomalies related to incipient oceanic southward propagating spreading axes. The Protector Basin shows the oldest evidence of E–W continental stretching and subsequent oceanic spreading during Middle Miocene, related with the eastward development of the Scotia Arc that continues up to Present. The relative rotation of continental blocks during the development of small sized oceanic basins by continental block drifting favoured the opening of wedge shape basins like the Protector Basin and conjugate propagating rifts.     

Oblique and near collision subduction, Sagami and Suruga Troughs —preliminary results of the French-Japanese 1984 Kaiko cruise, Leg 2

Leg 2 of the French-Japanese 1984 Kaiko cruise has surveyed the Suruga and the Sagami Troughs, which lie on both sides of the northwestward moving and colliding Izu-Bonin Ridge, the northernmost part of the Philippine Sea plate. The transition from the Nankai Trough to the Suruga Trough is characterized by northward decrease in width of the accretionary prism, in good agreement with the increasing obliquity between the through axis and the direction of the convergence, as the strike of the convergent boundary changes from ENE-NNE to south-north. South of the area, the southern margin of the Zenisu Ridge shows contractional deformations. This supports the interpretation made by the team of Leg 1 who studied the western extension of the area we studied, that it is an intra-oceanic thrusting of the ridge over the Shikoku Basin. In the Sagami Trough, where the relative motion is highly oblique to the plate boundary, active subduction is mostly confined in the east-west trending portions of the trough located south of the Boso Peninsula and along the lower Boso Canyon, near the TTT triple junction. In between, the present motion is mainly right-lateral along the northwest trending Boso escarpment. However, an inactive but recent (Pliocene to lower Pleistocene) accretionary prism exists south of the Boso escarpment, which suggests that the relative motion was more northerly than at present before about 1 Ma ago.     

Dewatering and extensional deformation of the Shikoku Basin hemipelagic sediments in the Nankai Trough

The Shikoku Basin hemipelagic sequence, which underlies the Nankai Trough wedge, S.W. Japan, thins by 50% between the outer edge of the trench wedge and DSDP Site 582, 14 km arcward. A sedimentation model, which incorporates changes in sedimentation rates with time and with distance from the trench wedge toe, indicates that 57% of the total thinning occurs as a result of temporally varying sedimentation rates and a time transgressive facies boundary between the trench wedge turbidites and the underlying hemipelagites. Burial-induced consolidation beneath the wedgeshaped turbiditic overburden, accounts for the remaining 43% of arcward thinning within the hemipelagic unit. Rapid dewatering, modeled as one-dimensional consolidation suggests that the excess pore water pressures are quite low during this progressive dewatering. Thus, high pore water pressures should not be assumed to occur universally in convergent margin settings. Normal faults and vein structures in the hemipelagites suggest near-horizontal extension in addition to vertical consolidation. The estimates of excess pore water pressures together with fault geometries and horizontal extensional strains, determined from the geometry of the subducting oceanic plate, can be used to constrain the stress conditions at failure. The expulsion of hot water from the rapidly dewatering sediments in the Nankai Trough may help to explain anomalously high heat flow in the central part of the trough.     

Mesozoic magnetic lineations in the Mozambique Basin

East-west-trending Mesozoic magnetic anomalies M2 through M22 have been identified in the northern Mozambique Basin. These anomalies are best matched by sea floor created at 50°S trending N120°E and spreading at a rate of around 1.5 cm/yr. The northward increase in age inferred from the identifications of these anomalies are compatible with observed decrease in the “reliable” heat flow values from 1.4 to 1.1 μcal/cm² s to the north in the basin. The anomalies terminate in the southern part of the Mozambique Channel against a magnetic quiet zone to the north. Both the Mozambique Basin anomalies and those recently observed off Antarctica are strong evidence in favour of a Gondwanaland reconstruction that places Dronning Maud Land against southern Mozambique, and a late Jurassic or older separation between Africa and Antarctica.     

日本南海海槽地震区域应力场及其板块构造动力学特征

为了研究海沟型巨大地震发生机制及其构造动力学特征，详细研究了地震活动与震源机制结果，根据地震俯冲带几何形状及其内应力场区域特征，南海海槽下的俯冲带可划分为两段: 东部的四国-纪伊半岛段和西部的九州段. 东部的菲律宾海板块地震俯冲带呈现出低角度俯冲(10°～22°)，且俯冲深度相当浅(60～85km)的特征;而西部九州段的俯冲带为高角度俯冲(40°)，且俯冲深度较深(160km). 东、西部俯冲带内部应力场也截然不同. 东部的四国大部分地区和纪伊半岛的俯冲带内表现为俯冲压缩型应力场， 而西部的九州段则为明显的俯冲拉张型应力场. 本文在综合分析了重力异常、GPS、热流量等地球物理观测结果后指出，南海海槽东部， 即四国-纪伊半岛以南的海槽区域， 具有与智利海沟极其相似的地震发生板块构造动力学背景和高应力积累等特征， 属于年轻活动俯冲带的高应力型俯冲. 而西部的九州段，虽然也是海沟型地震活动区， 但不具有大地震发生的构造动力学背景和高应力积累， 不属于年轻活动俯冲带的高应力型俯冲. 俯冲带年龄的不同很可能是造成南海海槽东、西段板块构造动力学以及应力场不同的根本原因之一.     

南海西北次海盆的磁条带重追踪及洋中脊分段性

由于缺少有效钻孔资料,对于南海扩张的时间一直存在较大的疑问.在南海三大海盆中,西北次海盆面积最小、磁条带特征不明显,因此对其扩张年代的争议最大.最新采集的高密度(小于10 km测线间距)船测地磁资料清晰地显示了西北次海盆磁条带的存在.在OBS和多道地震资料的约束下,利用船测地磁资料,本文对西北次海盆的地壳年龄进行了重追踪.根据定量的比较,西北次海盆的主体扩张始于35.8 Ma(C16n,2n),在34.7 Ma(C15)时其西南部开始扩张,扩张最终同时终止于33.2 Ma(C13n),整体的全扩张速率在40~50 mm/a之间.这表明南海的扩张可能首先起源于西北次海盆,在其结束扩张后,东部次海盆才开始打开(约30 Ma).得益于数据精度和密度的提高,利用化极后的磁力异常以及反演的磁化强度可以对西北次海盆进行二级中脊段的划分.我们共划分出六个中脊段和一个明确的转换断层.中脊的分段性与OBS反演的地壳厚度的变化相一致.转换断层东侧,中脊主体分为四个中脊段,每个中脊段长度均在30 km左右.转换断层西侧,存在一个长约50 km的中脊段和一个不确切的中脊段.中脊段上磁化强度的变化幅值和中脊段长度在整体上成正比.每个中脊段中央的磁化强度弱于中脊段两端的磁化强度,这与扩张速率相近的大西洋中脊的磁化强度特征一致.     

Morpho-tectonic study on late-stage spreading of the Eastern Subbasin of South China Sea

Three NE-trending linear structural zones with different strikes are present in the Eastern Subbasin of the South China Sea. They are distributed in the 350-km-wide central region of both sides of the Scarborough seamount chain, representing a morphological indication of the basement faulting. These three zones correspond respectively to three spreading episodes: the magnetic anomalies 6c -6a (24-21 Ma), 6a - 5e (21 - 19 Ma) and 5e - 5d (5c) (19 - 16 Ma). Instability, subsection and asymmetry characterize the seafloor spreading of the subbasin. The spreading directions change in a continuous way in each of the zones, but abrupt changes by 3°-5° occur when crossing the boundary between the zones, reflecting that the spreading direction has evolutionary characteristics of both gradual and sudden changes. NW-trending transform faults of the spreading become progressively densely distributed from the east to the west, cutting the NE-trending zones into several segments, between which the strikes of the NE-trending zones have marked changes. Such features indicate that the spreading axis is associated with subsection along the strike. Around 21 Ma (magnetic anomaly 6a), there was an important event of spreading acceleration, with the full rate rapidly increasing from 30.54 km/Ma to 42.88 km/Ma. This rate increment event corresponds to the sudden changes in the spreading characteristics of basement faulting, sedimentation, volcano activities, etc. The asymmetry of spreading over the eastern part of the Eastern Subbasin is generally larger than that over the western part, and the spreading rate is markedly larger on the southern side than on the northern side. As a result, the oceanic basin is wide in the east and narrow in the west, forming a significantly asymmetric pattern.     

Thermo-tectonic history of Ryoke Basement in Hohi volcanic zone, northeast Kyushu, Japan: Constraints from fission track thermochronology

Abstract Apatite and zircon fission track ages from Ryoke Belt basement in northeast Kyushu show late Cretaceous, middle to late Eocene, middle Miocene and Quaternary groupings. The basement cooled through 240 ± 25°C, the closure temperature for fission tracks in zircon, mainly during the interval 74-90 Ma as a result of uplift and denudation, the pattern being uniform across northeast Kyushu. In combination with published K-Ar ages and the Turonian-Santonian age of sedimentation in the Onogawa Basin, active suturing along the Median Tectonic Line from 100-80 Ma, at least, is inferred. Ryoke Belt rocks along the northern margin of Hohi volcanic zone (HVZ) cooled rapidly through ∼100°C to less than 50°C during the middle Eocene to Oligocene, associated with 2.5-3.5 km of denudation. The timing of this cooling follows peak heating in the Eocene-Oligocene part (Murotohanto subbelt) of the Shimanto Belt in Muroto Peninsula (Shikoku) inferred previously, and coincides with the 43 Ma change in convergence direction of the Pacific-Eurasian plate and the demise of the Kula-Pacific spreading centre. Ryoke Belt rocks along the southern margin of HVZ have weighted mean apatite fission track ages of 15.3 ± 3.1 Ma. These reset ages are attributed to an increase in geothermal gradient in the middle Miocene combined with rapid denudation and uplift of at least 1.4 km. These ages indicate that heating of the overriding plate associated with the middle Miocene start of subduction of hot Shikoku Basin lithosphere extended into the Ryoke Belt in northeast Kyushu. Pleistocene apatite fission track ages from Ryoke Belt granites at depth in the centre of HVZ are due to modern annealing in a geothermal environment.     

由高密度磁异常测量数据分析南海海盆的扩张年龄与扩张模式

南海是西太平洋最大的边缘海,地处欧亚板块、太平洋板块和印度洋板块的交汇处.过去通过磁异常条带对比分析南海扩张年龄的研究很多,但是所依赖的资料有限.本文对南海海盆高密度大批量磁异常测量数据进行了系统分析,实现了平面2D磁异常数据的带通滤波处理,消除了短波长噪音和由深部下地壳和上地幔顶部磁源体引起的长波长背景信息,因此突出了海底扩张所引起的磁异常条带.利用CK95地磁倒转模型和Talwani磁异常正演方法,对南海东部和西南次海盆内的重点磁异常测线进行了正演分析.通过对不同测线之间、不同海盆之间以及同一条测线中的正演磁异常与实测磁异常之间进行对比分析,进一步验证了南海东部次海盆的扩张年龄为32～16.5 Ma;西南次海盆可能的扩张年龄仍具有较大不确定性,可能为42～33 Ma或者24～16 Ma.不同的时间模型所依赖的扩张速率的变化情况不同,全扩张速率随时间变化明显,但主要在40～80 km/Ma之间.单纯根据目前的磁异常资料很难确定西南次海盆与东部次海盆之间的扩张次序.单期次扩张模式很难解释中南断裂两侧的构造物理差异,这种差异可能主要受控于其基底岩石成分、岩石磁化率、岩浆活动、扩张速率以及深部物质冷却磁化的影响,基底深度的变化也对观测磁异常的强度有所影响.相对地,大部分扩张后玄武岩海山的存在对观测的磁异常的影响不明显,针对目前磁异常解释中不可避免的多解性问题,需要运用其他不同的手段和方法,譬如大洋钻探和深拖高分辨率磁异常测量等,来实现对南海不同次海盆扩张年龄的精确估计.我们目前的工作是通向对深拖高分辨率磁异常、船测和航测磁异常、以及卫星磁异常综合解释的第一步.